Still trying!!

[rivrduk]

2000 Tradewinds, model 7373. Now: I have tried about everything i can in order to get the cable hookup to work in my MH. I have contacted the previous owner about any changes to the in MH cable system and he assures me that he never modified anything and was always able to get cable to work when he owned the MH. I have followed the directions in the manual to a (T) and still no channels when i scan. I turned the booster switch off for the antenna which is supposed to make the cable system work. I did all the things that the TV manual said to do as far as the setup and scan, still no cable. I opened up the front door, detached the antenna in and hooked up the cable to the switch box and i got channel 2 thru 15. I have replaced the old analog TVs both front and back should i also change the switch box that was used with the analog TVs. The new TVs are HD, or does this problem signal to me that something has happened between the cable connect in the back storage and the other end of the cable that hooks to the switch box? By the way it seems that i am special Ed in ELECTRONICS. Mechanical i do OK. Your help on this will be appreciated. Rivrduk

[Coached]

humour me and try a new coax cable from the outside pedestal to your coach's input. That turned out to be my problem on one coach and it was an almost new cable to begin with. Also make sure your TV is set to cable input as opposed to antennae input when auto*scanning? Very frustrating these things.

[RetiredBob]

My first thought was to check and make sure the "Input" for TV is set to "Cable".

[ga traveler]

The switch box has contacts. I have replaced several switch boxes because of bad contacts. Only one can go bad and all the rest will work OK. Bypass the switch box and see if that helps.

[beaverfever]

have you changed the tv to cable and scanned the channels?( some thing i learned the hard way)

[justaroamer]

Originally Posted by beaverfever

have you changed the tv to cable and scanned the channels?( some thing i learned the hard way)

Beaver is spot on, each cable system is different and you must scan available channels at each location. Be sure your TVs are current models that are cable capable tuners and HD as most are going that way. Also you are limited to what the Parks subscribe to. Go Directv/Dish and loose the reprograming hassle.

[rivrduk]

I did change the input to cable and scanned several times, NOTHING! I am gonna fight this until i get it. I have the MH parked next to the house on a slab and under cover. I just wanted to have cable this winter to use the MH as a get away when it got a little to hot ( you'all know what i mean). The mixer box works on antenna but not cable. Gonna change the mixer box next. Any more suggestions will be appreciated. Duk

[vito.a]

I would put in a temporary RG6 coax from your outside cable outlet through a window to your TV. Then you have eliminated all the potential problems. Assuming this works, then move it to your switch unit and try it, then move it back down the line one increment at a time until you find the problem.

Also, I would not recommend buying RG6 at Radio Shack. I did this a couple of years ago and had problems. I now get 50' sections on eBay very reasonable and it works great.

[Craig1965]

I don't know if my experience will help you or not, but I was able to hook up my Dish receiver by doing the following: I finally got it to work, but not as easy as I first thought. I didn't want to climb up on top of the unit to expose the satellite connection, but wanted to use the input connection in the power bay. After several tests and hunting out connections in the TV cabinet, I finally found where the lead comes in from that bay. There are three coax cables that are attached to the back of the antenna boost plate. One is an out to the splitter to allow all of the TV connections to receive a signal from the onboard antenna. Another one is the signal in from the antenna that is being boosted. The third one (the lower black one on the left side) is the input from the bay. I ended up disconnecting this coax cable, hooking it to an A/B switch and reconnecting one output to the prior connection and the other to the satellite receiver. I then connected the receiver to the TV by using the three "stereo plugs" labeled AUX. I then chose Video input on the TV, and selected AUX on the Smart Box, and success. I can now easily switch from my portable satellite external dish to the antenna input by just choosing the input on the remote. The only thing I had to make a note about was if I happen to hook up to a cable TV input, I will need to move the A/B switch to the opposite side. After all this, it probably would have been easier to put a satellite dish on the roof, but a lot more expensive. Good for now.

I have attached a picture of the back of the antenna boost plate.








This is another photo of some wiring that someone had sent me prior. Might help.

[frankdamp]

We had a really crummy picture and sound when hooked to Park cable systems. After a lot of troubleshooting at home with known good signals, I finally concluded that the coax run from the power bay to the switching box in the front overhead was bad.

Since I was taking out the bedroom TV (we don't have one in the S&B, why would we need one in the RV?), I ran a new coax from the socket in the power bay up to where the bedroon TV had been and then hooked into that TV set feed. Reconfigured at the switching box and now have good quality signal at the front overhead TV set.

We watch so little TV, even at home, that our main use of the display is to watch DVDs and VCR tapes. I haven't even bothered to get a D-to-A converter box for the RV. We don't need one at the S&B, as we're on cable. Over the air reception is so crappy in this neighborhood (we can only get one OTA channel) 75 miles from Seattle, everyone has cable.

[wa8yxm]

I too agree with the suggestion to run a cable direct.

There are several possible issues with the park cable lead.. From your line about turning the booster off I assume you have the standard wall plate, not a box of many buttons. The wall plate has a 12 volt outlet, switch, antenna connection and light, Light off = cable (Assuming the fuse is good) light on = Rooftop antenna.

now, remove the plate from the wall.. there should be 2,3 or optionall 4 cables connected.

With the 12 volt socket at the top, looking at it from the rear, the cables are

Ant - Cable - Tv2 and TV 3 (if it is a 3 tv model)

I was in a rig about a month ago where when I removed the plate to check the cables were, NONE NONE and NONE (2 tv model) that is to say it was not connected!!!!!

Next, disconnect the #2 cable (park) and using a multi meter with no park cable hooked up measure resistance between the center wire and the sleeve (the crimped metal part) should be infinity (open circuit)

now put a cable in the jack outisde and have a friend lay a metal object between the center wire and the nut shorting it, Meter should show zero or near zero. (nor more thna 1 ohm)

IF you get zero on the first it means someone stapled THROUGH the cable, not uncommon.. If you do not get zero on teh 2nd it means broken cable, Most likely the end of the cable pulled off (Either end).

In any case, you can then hook up your direct test cable to the cable port on the switc. If it still does not work.. Bad switch.

There are more things that can go wong with coax, but this covers the most common, the more exotic .. Well, if direct hook up fixes it (direct to the switch) replace park cable inside the coach, You might try using RG-6 (Better cable) just in case you ever wish to re-task.. If the only thing that works is direct to the TV, bad switch.

NOTE.. If the TV is hooked to the front jack on that plate, and its hard to get to the back of the TV you can use a double female connector (Barrell connector) in place of the switch plate to hook 2 cables together.

[Chuck&Pam]

Are you 100% sure your outside cable outlet (from your house) is hot? as suggested run a cable from there to a TV inside your home to be sure. If that works, take that same cable directly to your RV TV, if that works, take it to the distribution box, and keep on til you find the problem.

[rivrduk]

The switchbox was the problem. Thanks. Duk